


The Condemnation of Shawshank

by Consulting_TARDIS_Hunter



Category: Shawshank Redemption - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Death, Everyone is Dead, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Heavy Angst, Hurt No Comfort, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Suicide, My First Work in This Fandom, One Shot, POV First Person, Pain, Post-Prison, Prison, Sad Ending, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Why Did I Write This?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-19
Updated: 2019-06-19
Packaged: 2020-05-14 14:57:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19275637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Consulting_TARDIS_Hunter/pseuds/Consulting_TARDIS_Hunter
Summary: A rewrite to the ending of Shawshank Redemption, an analysis of a what if, "What if Andy killed himself with that length of rope he took?"I think I gave a sufficient answer.





	The Condemnation of Shawshank

**Author's Note:**

> I love Shawshank Redemption, I just saw it a couple of days ago and right when they said Andy took a six foot length of rope this went through my head. I loved how they actually ended it but this thought wouldn't leave me until I wrote it.
> 
> So good luck because I think this is going to be my only work in this fandom. Have fun!

"Oh my God." I heard the officer say after he went into cell 245... Andy's cell. Filled with posters, rocks, and knickknacks of any kind. I would know because I helped fill the shelves with the contraband.  
  
And there, among all the things that made that cell his, was Andy himself... hanging right in the middle of it all by the window bars.  
  
At seven o'clock in the morning on June 14, of his twentieth year in this place... Andy Dufresne was found dead by his own hand in his cell. At seven o' five am, he was declared dead. At seven ten am, the warden knew where his best suit went as well as his shoes.  
  
Because Andy did follow his instructions and shined them like a mirror. I would've known what he was gonna do but... how often does a man look at another's shoes?  
  
The one innocent man in all of Shawshank, dead. I never thought a man that filled to the brim with hope would burn out, but it seems we're all doomed to encounter impossible things in our lifetime... Mine was that banker with the Pacific in his eyes and silver tongue.  
  
I guess after Tommy died, he decided he'd been here long enough. And so he left... on his own terms.  
  
For the first and last time I played that damn harmonica for my fellow inmates, it's the only send off I could give 'im.  
  
I still remember that promise I made to him, if I ever got out. But considering he never made it out with me I think not obeying that one wish can be forgiven.  
  
It still makes me sad, Andy being gone... Reminds me that some birds were never meant to be caged. Their feathers were just too bright and when they fly away... the part of you that knows it was a sin to lock them up rejoices. But still, the place you live in is that much darker and so... so much more empty when they're gone.  
  
I guess I just miss my friend.  
  
For the next ten years I spent at Shawshank, I don't think anyone that kind, or that brilliant ever filled that cell. I saw so many come and go, some just like how he did. But none came close to that man I knew. Everything that came to pass after that day blended together. I think it turned out better that way.  
  
When I came up for parole again, I was accepted. I worked day in and day out, sleeping in the same room Brooks did. I couldn't help myself from looking up at that carving and thinking... "Is today going to be the day?"  
  
It's still a harsh truth to face, that I'm not meant for a life on the outside. I constantly think of ways to break my parole so they'd send me back home. I think Brooks knew that all too well, the feeling of living in fear. I want to be back, where everything makes sense. Only one thing is stopping me. The need to set things right, to make sure Andy is remembered like he deserves.  
  
This can probably be counted as one of the longest suicide notes ever written. A whole story of two lives intertwined, a manifesto is what I think he would call it. All I want is to make sure that the warden and all the other officers at Shawshank get the justice they deserve... and so does my friend.  
  
I really don't think anyone will really care about the dying words of an old crook like me... but if anyone does, you can find me hanging in Brooks old room. You'll know my name too if you look at the carving. "Brooks was here. And so was Red."  
  
For the second time in my life I'm committing a crime.  
  
Suicide.  
  
But I don't think they could condemn me for that one.  
  
I find that I'm so tired I can barely hold a thought, or even bring myself to keep tapping the keys on this old typewriter. I felt this way before when I first started my sentence... it's when a man knows he's trapped, that the life he once knew... is over.   
  
I hope I can bring myself to do this...  
  
I hope I can see my friend and shake his hand.  
  
I hope the afterlife is as beautiful as I've imagined.  
  
"Get busy livin' or get busy dyin'." That was the last thing he said to me.  
  
So I did.


End file.
